Sharad Pawar- The Maratha Strongmen Known For His Chanakya Moves (image-twitter/PawarSpeaks)

Sharad Pawar has remained a formidable force on the Indian political landscape and is known for his foresightedness and political maneuvers. 

The seasoned politician after the split of the National Congress party faced the tallest challenges. He lost his party name as well as his symbol due to a mutiny led by none other than his nephew- Ajit Pawar. 

As per the Election Commission order, the name of the party and the ‘clock’ symbol were retained by the Ajit Pawar faction. This faction includes senior leaders including Chhagan Bhujbal and Praful Patel. However, the Election Commission ahead of the Lok Sabha election, allotted the party name to be Nationalist Congress Party- Sharadchandra Pawar and the symbol as ‘man blowing turha (a traditional trumpet)’. 

Pawar who began his political career in 1958 quit the Presidential post of the party he founded 25 years ago. From student politics to becoming Maharashtra’s chief minister four times and a decade-long stint as Union minister, Pawar is known for his political moves. 

Though they have found the name for the party, how successful the party was in tackling the hurdles of spreading awareness about its new name and symbol to all the areas of the state can only be answered with the upcoming election results. The major setback has come right before the key elections which will test the veteran’s decades-long experience. 

Sharad Pawar is one of the key leaders of the INDIA Opposition bloc. Amidst the split, the Sharad Pawar faction has decided to continue its alliance with Udhav Thackeray led- Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress. 

Despite several attempts by outsiders as well as insiders to take over, the 82-year-old remains in strong control of his party. In 2019, when BJP emerged as the single largest party but without a majority, his nephew Ajit Pawar pulled off a coup and joined hands with BJP forming a BJP-NCP alliance. He then took the oath as the deputy chief minister. 

However, Pawar outwitted his nephew by luring away the MLAs supporting him and removing him as the head of the party legislative unit. Ajit Pawar had to resign within three days. 

Even during the dusk of his political career, Pawar was strong and clever enough to make the right moves to ward off the opponents.